Political parties agree that judges can't appoint judges

NEW DELHI: The political class' unease over the courts' itch to encroach on the terrain of legislature found an expression in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. Parties across the aisle backed leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley's demand for revisiting the process of judicial appointments and clear measures to ward off undue interventions in the government's functioning.

Speaking on the motion on the impeachment of Soumitra Sen, Jaitley said there was a need for relook at the functioning of the judicial system. "The system of judges appointing judges must now change. India needs a National Judicial Commission to appoint judges," Jaitley said and added that the commission's members can be drawn from the judiciary and executive, besides prominent citizens.

The demand drew the backing of members cutting across party lines and even the prime minister thumped the desk in agreement.

Expressing anguish over the "increased trend" of the executive giving jobs to judges post-retirement, he said, "There is a possibility of retirement-eve judgements getting influenced in search of post-retirement jobs... this is a serious threat to judicial independence." As a matter of fact, successive governments have been accommodating retired judges in post-retirement jobs.

In his address, Jaitley also referred to recent judgements in the Salwa Judum case."The courts cannot decide on these issues as they are supposed to be dealt by the government…how Maoists are to be fought is the domain of the government...courts cannot decide if a Pakistani prisoner should be released….it is for the government to decide," underlined Jaitley.

Appreciating Jaitley's call for judicial accountability, CPM leader Sitaram Yechury underlined that Lok Pal and National Judicial Commission (NJC) must go together. "There is need for judicial review and not judicial activism," he said.

His CPI colleage D Raja also pitched for setting up of NJC, saying that accountability and transparency was the need of the hour in appointment of judges.